Trump calls affordability crisis a "hoax," touts the economy ahead of midterms

(NPR) In the spring of last year, then-President Joe Biden tried to convince skeptical voters that the struggling economy was healthy. Then-candidate Donald Trump seized on the moment and vowed to lower prices for American consumers, beating his eventual Democratic rival Kamala Harris in part with a winning economic message.

Now it's President Trump who's trying to persuade the public that the state of the economy is sound, after prices rose 3% in the 12 months ending in September and with consumers spending less on big-ticket items.

Betsey Stevenson, a professor of economics at the University of Michigan, says making that argument could be a tall order in the face of rising costs for a number of goods and services.

"My personal takeaway from the experience we had [in 2024] was that you can't tell people that prices aren't up when they're up," she said.

https://www.npr.org/2025/12/11/nx-s1-5639957/trump-affordability-hoax-economy-midterms